


An Altered Turn in Time

by LovelessGoddess



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angeal antics, Cute Kids, Eventual Romance, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Humor, Kids, Original Character(s), Silent Genesis, Solemn Scowling Sephiroth, Turk Vincent Valentine, Young Angeal, Younger Vincent Valentine, the Turks - Freeform, young genesis, young sephiroth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-17 04:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9303350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LovelessGoddess/pseuds/LovelessGoddess
Summary: No one has the right to use a child for their own gain. For Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis, there was no choice. Yet if there was, what paths would their lives had taken?Such is one possibility when Vincent decides to take matters into his own hands, rather than slumber away into years of self torturous misery. Along with the help of an unexpected ally, who found herself willing to risk her own life against the most powerful organization on the Planet for the sake of three children's freedom.





	1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

_What if...._

What if the fates of three special children were altered....

What if they were given the freedom to decide their own paths in life....

What if they had been free of Shinra's reign.....

A story of that very "what if..." that started with a Turk who listened to his conscience, as well as his heart

 

 

It was a night like any other night within the slums of Midgar's Sector 6. Residents and shopkeepers not only locking their doors and windows, but adding their own barricades to keep out the potential thieves and criminal predators. Retreating to their beds for the night with weapons close at hand or beneath their very pillows. Such was the routine for the citizens of the Midgar slums for so long, it became a methodical repetition as was breathing. What monsters stalked the streets, human or otherwise, were such a forced normality that no one expected any form of salvation. Victims were overlooked as a mere daily statistic, shrugged off and forgotten within minutes from memory.

No one prayed anymore.

There was nothing to pray to.

Vierra swore never to return to Midgar once she was able to escape it. When she finally had herself established in Kalm, her efforts to move her parents out of the slums to join her came to a devastating halt. Caught in the crossfires of a gang and Mafia dispute, many innocents paid the price with their lives simply for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. If anything could offer her consolation, it was the fact that her father was reported to have used his body to shield a young a child from being struck by the spray of gunfire. It offered little comfort, but the incident brought her back, none the less, to the home she despised simply because she was the sole heir to their feeble belongings, including their beloved book store they devoted much of their lives to.

Two months had passed since their passing. Each day Vierra struggled to go through their belongings, while struggling even more with the decision over the book store. Keep it going in their honor, or shut it down and flee from the wretched city again. With her savings slowly dwindling, she didn't have much time to dwindle over her decision. That was until the alarming news streaming across the media reported the shocking devastation of Kalm, claiming there were little survivors and calling the incident as a "military accident".

Having witnessed tragedy and enduring suffrage much of her twenty six years, Vierra simply shook her head at the never ending corruption of Shinra. _Accident my ass,_ she thought to herself before turning off the television set that was nearly as old as she was. She spent the rest of the day keeping herself distracted as always, be it cleaning up the dilapidated store, reorganizing books, and barely remembering to eat a meal. Fate had made its decision. She had no other choice but to stay put and make the best of it.

By midnight, her body demanded that she call it a night. Although her mind was still wide awake and racing with all there was left to do, her limbs and back were exhausted and her energy depleted. After checking all the locks, she then reinforced the doors and windows with the added wood brace slats which held the plywood shutters secure on the inside. The front and back doors were reinforced with steel slabs, which cost her a pretty penny. Before climbing the back stairs that lead to the upstairs loft apartment, Vierra contemplated whether to take a shower before going to sleep. or taking one in the morning. When passing a mirror hanging on the wall, she took a brief glance at herself and decided to take one now.

An even longer inspection in the bathroom mirror gave her quite a start. She hardly recognized herself having looked like she aged ten years in the past two months. The dark circles under her jade green eyes were a stark contrast to her even paler complexion. She wasn't ill, but the fact that there was no sunlight that reached the lower slums of Midgar literally drained her of what sunlight she drank in during her short lived life in Kalm. After removing the bandanna head-wrap and the elastic band from her up-kept hair, Vierre found another unwelcome revelation. Several strands of hair had turned grey as a product of the amount of stress she had been under. After running her fingers through her bright auburn mane, she released a sigh of defeat before turning on the tub faucets for a long needed bath.

By one in the morning she was climbing into the double bed for yet another nightly ritual of checking her weapons. Her father's 357 Magnum lied under the bed, directly within her reach should she have to reach from the bed, or dive on the floor should someone charge into her room. The 9MM was beneath the pillow with the safety on. The 12 gauge shotgun rested safely in the corner. They weren't much compared to what was carried by those who ran the streets, but it was better than nothing at all. She even had a few bats scattered about the additional rooms and an antique sword downstairs in the bookstore should she get that desperate.

There was no need to set the alarm either. Vierra rarely slept longer than five or six hours anyway. But it often felt longer than that to even go to sleep. 

Sleep and wake up to another mundane day of hell and uncertainty.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

"Stay!....Put!" Vincent whispered harshly with his crimson eyes staring hard into the bright cyan eyes staring directly back at him. There was no fear to be seen in that bright gaze, but of course, the usual defiance gleamed back at him without a word.

He knew Sephiroth was a remarkable child for his young age, but this particular six year old was far too rebellious for an average boy. And proving to be more of a challenge than his other two counterparts. Angeal listened and followed eagerly enough, and Genesis was by far the quiet one in the group. Perhaps Sephiroth had developed the ability of consuming the attitudes from the other two in order to be as obstinate as he was. 

With silence being the only response, Vincent could only hope Sephiroth would obey before peering out from the darkened alcove between the two buildings they were currently hiding in. He could still hear the city alarms from the upper level, but being beneath the plates of the slower Sectors drowned out much of the volume to even alert the slumbering residents of the slums. Even those who were awake and ran the streets at night could care less of the ongoings above. But Vincent knew the alarms were meant for him and the three young charges now under his care. It wouldn't be much longer before the streets above and below would be flooded with Shinra forces since Vincent just kidnapped the organization's three most prized possessions.

After seeing both sides of the street was clear, Vincent made a dash for the alley across the empty lanes. His original plans had to be altered since alarms were tripped far earlier than he anticipated and he took a bullet just below his right collar bone. At least having altered genetics were an advantage to injuries and high pain tolerance. For now, all he could do was buy them some added time to find a new route of escape since his first was anticipated by Shinra's guards before Vincent could even get out of the building. Thankfully, his years as a Turk earned him the knowledge of every inch of the Headquarters that the SOLDIERS had no clue of.

Their successful retreat through the underground tunnels led Vincent and the children to the slums, and if luck won out, he would have them completely out of the city before dawn. But a dependable vehicle to steal was a rarity to be found in the slum Sectors. Now crouching beside the large garbage dumpster, Vincent gave another glance over of his guns to be sure for the hundredth time that they were ready to fire at any given second. Then his sights returned to the vehicle parked along the curb several yards ahead. It was an old model pick up truck that appeared to be held together more by rust than the fading blue paint, but if it actually worked....

Just as Vincent was about to emerge from the shadows for the hopeful get away car, spot lights from above came streaming down across the entire block, illuminating through the pitch darkness to aid in the helicopter's search. The only thing saving him and the children from possibility of being seen was the thickness of the multiple metal grates above that served as the dividing plates between the upper level of the city and the lower levels. When jerking back into the shadows, he hissed from the sharp pain that surged through his wound, but quickly shook it off before now looking back to be sure that Sephir.....

Cursed child was standing directly behind him.... 

Vincent could have sworn the annoying little tyke beheld an expression as if he were mentally judging the grown man and his frantic efforts.

"I told you to stay put!" He hissed at the youth while sharing his glare with the other two who apparently followed Sephiroth's decision to disobey. 

Sephiroth let the briefcase Vincent left with him drop to the ground to fall over with a thud before grumbling his excuse with a scowl. "Angeal saw a cat and got scared."

"Was not a cat, Seph!" Angeal snapped while swiping the unruly black strands of his hair away from his eyes that bore the same color as the other two. "It was a RAT! A big fat RAT!"

"Would you keep it down!" Vincent hissed at them again while pointing up to the searching lights from above. 

Sephiroth merely rolled his eyes and gave the briefcase a kick away from his feet. "Yes Angeal, be quiet or the SOLDIERS miraculous hearing will hear us over the thundering sound of the helicopter engine." He began walking toward the darker end of the alley before Vincent reached out and grabbed the child by the arm to pull him back. 

Before any argument could follow, the street was suddenly ablaze with light. The subtle rumble was distant at first, but grew gradually louder with every passing second. Vincent cursed as he crouched even closer to the side of the dumpster as his mind frantically scrambled for a way to escape, or from being found. He dared to even contemplate throwing the trio of tykes into the dumpster and making a run for it to lead the guards away, but he wasn't about to trust the rebellious silver haired brat from poking his head right back out to take on every SOLDIER himself.

His sights scanned through the shadows of the alley to find a side door to each building and kept his body against the wall while making his way to the first one. Even though he knew it would be locked, perhaps the barrier would be weak enough to break through. After a few slams of his left shoulder, the door proved to be as solid as cement. 

And the sound of the army vehicles were getting even closer.

He could only pray to the Goddess that his luck over the other door would grant them a miracle. Seeing that the children were still hovering behind the dumpster, Vincent ran to the other side of the alley for their last attempt. Even though he rammed the door with his uninjured shoulder, each blow sent a powerful shudder through his entire body, causing the wound in his other shoulder to bleed more profusely. But he paid no heed. It was either succeed, or Shinra regained control of their Project experiments and Vincent would pay with his life.

At one point between his ramming efforts, a faint clanging noise caught his attention. Turning his head, Vincent caught sight of the bottom of Sephiroth's little sneakers disappear into the damn wall! "What the hell are you doing!?" He made a dive for the boy, but damn if that kid wasn't quick! "Sephiroth! Get your ass back here!" He hissed loudly, only to realize the genius finding Sephiroth discovered. It was an old dryer vent, but luckily an industrial size where most were much smaller for residential homes. It was still a tight fit for a six year old, but since Vincent could no longer see him, by the continuous shuffling and little grunts, Sephiroth was still moving.

Hearing the vehicle and tank engines drawing even closer, Vincent waved for Genesis and Angeal to rush over to him. Whatever was in the briefcase, Angeal knew to automatically snatch it up and carry it with them. By the time they reached Vincent, even the footfalls of the ground SOLDIERS could be heard drawing closer as even more spotlights flooded the streets and across the buildings. Vincent's two handguns were at the ready, both aimed at the entrance of the alley while still praying for that miracle. 

But what if Sephiroth did get stuck? What if the vent led to a dead end? Or in a portion to the building where he couldn't get to the door? What if someone inside discovered him? _Damn you Lucretcia.... damn you for making me care!_

Suddenly, there was a noise at the door. Clearly the child was attempting to open it, but the slab was still being stubborn. Was the lock stuck? Hinges rusted? Before his fears could reach the panic limit, something loud clanged from the other side and the door began to inch open with obvious tugs of struggle from the other side. Vincent quickly ushered the other two kids to his other side to shield them should they still be discovered while whispering to Sephiroth through the crack to get out of the way before ramming his shoulder against the door again. Clearly something was blocking it, but with a few more blows, Vincent gained enough space for himself and the others to squeeze in to then slam it shut again. 

Complete and utter darkness surrounded them, but Sephiroth's youthful tone turned as serious as an adult's. "The room is full of garbage, so be careful." His warning was followed by something falling and toppling against other objects before crashing to the floor. Angeal's mumbled "sorry" was the last to be heard before all fell silent again.

Little did they know an even worse threat had just awakened upstairs.

*************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

She woke with a deep scowl already creased across her brow. First the odd roaring sound filled her ears and when her eyes flew open, Vierra found her bedroom filled with light! _What the hell....?_

She flew out of her bed and snatched the 12 gauge from the corner before rushing toward the window, but wisely took a more cautious approach when parting the curtains to peek outside. Her eyes went wide at the sight below and from above. Both lanes of the street were filled with armored trucks and even tanks, surrounded by armed foot SOLDIERS that were slowly scouring the streets in search for something. Above, countless streams of lights were blazing down through the plate rafters in attempts to shed even more aid to whatever search was going on. 

The imminent dread slammed through her gut like a brick as she slowly backed away from the windows before tearing out of her room and through the hallway toward the staircase, all the while replaying her lock up routine from earlier that night in hopes that she remembered every one of them. By the time she reached the top of the stairs, she heard an echo of a crash from below and froze to a standstill in her tracks. _They're inside.... Goddess help me..._

Her fears began to run rampant with images of her home filling with SOLDIER guards, and she knew it didn't matter that she was innocent of whatever their purpose. The slums had no rights. Their lives were expendable and worthless in Shinra's eyes. 

Her grip tightened around the weapon she still held while trying to calm the trembling now raking through her body. No other noise followed. No heavy marching footsteps. No items or furniture being broken. No voices. Just her own frantic panting breath and ear pounding rush of her erratic heartbeat. She dared to take the first step. only to pause when the aged old wood groaned beneath her weight. Vierra winced and waited, but still heard nothing but silence. Maybe she imagined the crash?

As the chaos continued outside, she decided to continue her cautious venture down the stairs until she could sigh with relief once she reached the bottom. To her left was the shop. To her right was the back storage room and kitchenette with adjoining bathroom. If the crash was real, she had no idea which side it came from, but the shop end was now glowing with light flooding in through every nook and cranny of the window shutters, where the back of the store was still safely dark. Surely her fears have over reacted. Whatever would Shinra want with a bookstore? Or with a nobody such as herself? 

Perhaps the Shinra President had finally lost his patience with Don Corneo and sent out his SOLDIER hounds to put the fear of hell into him. 

Suddenly, a thud from the back of the store startled Vierra into a three foot jump, but she managed to keep her scream muffled. Her heart slammed back into hyper drive to the point that her breath could barely keep up. [i]Get a grip, dammit. You've been through worse. You can handle this![/i] Each cautious step brought her further into the shadows with her gun now aimed ahead of her. She focused through her fears for any possible advantage she could take. She knew where each piece of furniture was, where the drawer of knives was, and if she had to, someone's hand would be shoved into the sink's garbage disposal!

************************************************************************************************************************************************

Vincent felt his strength waning. His hand instinctively reached for his wound only to find his black Turk suit saturated with blood. He pushed himself too hard when slamming the doors, but the fact that they were all safe for now made the risk worth it. Still, he managed to get on his feet and slowly shuffle through what debris was in his way while the children followed suit. No surprise it was Sephiroth who discovered the other door of the room that would hopefully lead out of this mess. Even without light to reveal what lied within, it was obvious by the musty smell and objects crammed into the room that they had to climb through, or around, that it was some sort of storage room. 

Thus far, there was no commotion that signaled Shinra knew of their whereabouts. 

Once out of the room, they found themselves in a small dingy kitchen with a solitary nightlight beside the sink illuminating the room. A small circular table sat in the middle of the room with three chairs. It looked as if the room hadn't been used in years, but the light proved that someone must indeed reside here. To be safe, Vincent brought his finger to his lips to signal the boys to remain silent before bracing himself against the table to regain his bearings. 

When did the room start spinning? 

Unfortunately, the attention span and patience within children could only hold out for so long. Especially with three who have never been outside in the real world. Sephiroth was exploring the lower cabinets while Angeal dared to pry open the refrigerator. Apparently Sephiroth wasn't satisfied with his findings and proceeded to use a chair to climb onto the counter to inspect the higher ones while ignoring Vincent's hissing warnings. At least Genesis remained still, now sitting under the table and wrapping his arms around the briefcase satchel as if it were a teddy bear. 

He was about to holster his guns until a shadow of movement caught his peripheral vision from the hallway. His instincts and Turk training swung him around to aim his weapon, but the swift motion only infuriated the dizziness already consuming his senses. His legs and feet staggered, but he fought for control and stubbornly kept his gun aimed in the general direction of the kitchen doorway. He could make out a silhouette of a body before his vision went blurry and then dark. The last conscious thought he had was foreseeing the boys returned to the prison labs he fought so hard to get them out of before his body toppled hard to the floor and Angeal shrieking out his name.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _The children's ages may conflict with what information is noted from the game's own plot. Varied adult ages of the three characters vary from 20 to 25 depending on the source, but since Angeal and Genesis joined SOLDIER with admiration of Sephiroth's accomplishments already, there's no way Sephiroth could have been younger than them at that time of joining. So ages were kept close in the story out of my own theory, as facts known of the game's version of the Jenova Project have been altered for story purposes as well._  
>  _I hope you enjoy._ :)

**CHAPTER TWO**

Without thought to previous caution, Vierra ran for the doorway of the kitchen when she heard the cry. That was definitely no voice of a SOLDIER! At first she suspected it was possibly female, but once the truth was revealed in the low light of the room, she choked back the disbelief standing before her. 

An unconscious man and three children!?

"What... in the name of the Goddess?" Even Vierra didn't realize she spoke aloud, nor did she realize she was still holding her gun, but it gave one of the children reason to take one into his own small hands. 

Sephiroth was not ignorant of weapons, having SOLDIER guards around him, or in the lab at all times during his entire short life in Shinra. Although he never held one, he had no fear of them. When seeing the woman appear at the doorway, he dove for one of Vincent's handguns that dropped to the floor when he collapsed and aimed it at her with a shout as threatening as a six year old could sound. "Stay away!"

Angeal's eyes went wide at his friend while Genesis continued to shake Vincent in hopes to waken him. "Sephiroth!" Angeal whispered in a state of panic. "What are you doing!? You can't shoot her!" He spared a frightened glance at the woman before looking to Sephiroth again. 

"Yes I can," The youth muttered without a single blink at his target.

What caught Vierra's attention was how steady the child's hands were, as was his voice. What kind of a kid could take hold of a deadly weapon and appear hell bent on using it without a shred of fear? She had seen some young thugs in this city, but one this young was even a shock to her! 

She slid her leery gaze away from the boy for another glimpse of the man lying on the floor with the other two children hovering over him. Her left eyebrow slowly arched up when noticing his attire. Since when did burglars start wearing suits?

It wasn't hard for common sense to put two and two together, but for now, Vierra kept her suspicions to herself while releasing a pent up breath and lowering her rifle slowly to rest it against the wall. Although still overwhelmed by the odd findings in her kitchen, sensibility still too the reigns. "It seems your friend is hurt. So either you let me help him, or he just lies there bleeding all over my floor." 

She hoped she sounded more calm than she felt. A child holding a gun was by far more unpredictable than an actual criminal. For now, she watched the youth struggle with her ultimatum while studying him further. The piercing cyan hue of his eyes was remarkable, and she had never seen a child with silver hair before, save for the older teens on the streets that dyed their hair every damn color of the rainbow. But silver? 

She also noticed how the child studied _her_. His stare was so intense that it even unnerved her as an adult. 

The other boy who spoke earlier tried reasoning with him again. "Seph! Please! Vincent's really hurt!"

She watched the luminous eyes narrow at her for another moment or two before letting out a huff of disgust through his nose and lowering the gun. "Fine." He may have released her from his aim, but the child still held onto the weapon. "But if you even try to alert SOLDIER that we're here, I _will_ shoot you."

Suspicions confirmed, she thought, before taking her steps wisely. 

Once Vierra reached the fallen man, she slowly lowered herself onto her knees as Angeal moved aside to give her room. "Is he gonna die?" His frail voice whispered with with his widened gaze watching her every move.. 

Her fingers carefully moved the suit jacket aside only to find the white shirt beneath completely saturated with blood. Her hands worked quickly to undo the buttons to locate the wound, and even though she was no doctor, she hoped that her guess was right. "I don't think so. He wasn't struck anywhere fatal, but I need to move him to see if the bullet went through or not."

She tried to be as careful as possible. Moving the man would only increase the blood flow escaping the wound, and it was obvious he lost too much already. When shifting him to his side, Vierra peered around his shoulder and used her fingers to find the exit hole with a sigh of relief before gently resting him on his back again. "Alright kiddos. You get to help." 

All three heads snapped to attention. She looked to Sephiroth first and pointed to the light switch. "I need light. Then I want you to go to the other end of the building to the bookshop. You'll see a small couch with a blanket and some pillows. Go get them." The child immediately obeyed without question, but left Vierra scowling as he ran off with the weapon still in his hand. Next she looked to Angeal. "In those lower cabinets are large mixing bowls. I want you to get as many as you can find, fill them with cold water, and bring them here." Angeal nodded quickly and shot off with his orders. When she looked at Genesis, he appeared more in shock. His wide eyed stare through strands of bright red hair fallen over his eyes were fixated on the bleeding man while shaking and clutching a satchel as if it were his life line. 

"Hey..." Vierra snapped her fingers in front of the boy's face to snap him out of his apparent turmoil. After a few more snaps, the boy blinked and finally looked at her as she pointed to the drawers beside the sink. "Clean rags and towels. Get them." She gave the child a moment to process her demand and finally he abandoned the satchel and moved to carry out her request as she returned her attention to removing the man's clothing to better work on his injury.. 

Although her ministrations were cautious and gentle, her patient began to awaken with a heavy groan before forcing his eyes to pry open and wince by the overhead light from the ceiling. His hands soon followed, clumsily trying to swat Vierra's away in a meager attempt to fight her off. "Don't... I'll be fine... Have to go."

She didn't shy from smacking his hands in retaliation. "You're not going anywhere, pal," Her voice replied with a stubborn snap while keeping her sights focused on clearing the gun wound from his clothing. "Keep trying to and I'll shoot your knee cap off," she muttered without meaning it.

Vincent still protested, trying to raise his torso from the floor with a sharp hiss of pain before rasping his words. "The children... got to get them away..."

Out of growing frustration, Vierra pressed her palm against his chest and pushed him back down on his back, this time fixing her jaded glare directly at him. "They're fine! One of them even has a happy trigger finger if I don't fix you, so for Goddess sake, be still!"

"Vincent!" Angeal's hopeful cry filled the room as he rushed back with a large plastic bowl full of water and Genesis right beside him to drop a pile of dish towels beside Vierra. After setting down the bowl, Angeal was on his knees again and hovering over Vincent's head. "Are you gonna die, Vincent!? Please don't die!" 

Somehow, Vincent managed a weak chuckle. "Not dying, kid." He even found the strength to reach up and ruffle his hand over the child's hair. "I promise."

The sight above him that followed was Sephiroth, now peering over his head but upside down. As usual, the child was scowling. "You owe me." He muttered before dropping the blanket and two small square pillows onto the floor and his face disappeared. Vierra busied herself spreading the blanket beside Vincent and lifting the wounded shoulder carefully to tug the blanket beneath him as the argument between child and adult continued. 

"What do you mean, I owe you? Owe you for what?" Vincent snapped before hissing and wincing from the woman again. "And what are you doing with the blanket?" 

It was Vierra's turn to scowl at the man, taking notice for the first time that his eyes beheld an odd crimson glow. "The floor is filthy. You want to risk an infection, too?"

Sephiroth didn't miss a beat while setting the gun on the table before climbing onto one of the chairs to sit himself down and start swinging his legs while looking down at Vincent as if he were annoyed by his question. "I saved you from getting caught. That's why you owe me."

Although drastically weakened from loss of blood and now the added pain from the woman trying to clean his wound, Vincent still managed a heated glare up at the boy to snap at him. "Oh do tell, your Majesty. Just what exactly do I owe you for that?"

"Ice cream." Without missing a beat, Sephiroth replied flatly while looking away as if he fell into deep thought. "I want ice cream. I've always heard about ice cream. Never had ice cream. So I want ice cream."

Vincent could only blink while dumbfounded in silence. 

Meanwhile, Vierra couldn't believe that this was all happening. One minute she was sharing her bed with her miseries, the next she had a strange wounded man on her floor with three children in tow and now arguing about ice cream. 

Surely the Goddess had a sick sense of humor.

"Ooooohhh.... I want to try ice cream too!" Angeal piped up with a wide smile before hovering over Vincent's face again with a whisper. "I heard it comes in all kinds of flavors! Is that true, Vincent?"

All the man could do was close his eyes and groan.

After Vierra cleaned away most of the blood, she grabbed another fresh towel and pressed it over the gaping hole to slow the bleeding. "Hold this. I have to get something from the bathroom."

When she rose up to stand, she saw Sephiroth's hand swoop over the gun while giving her a threatening glare. It took every ounce of control for Vierra to keep calm while pointing to the small bathroom at the corner of the kitchen. "I'm just getting something to help clean the wound and my sewing kit!"

The stubborn tyke merely scowled and pursed his lips before sliding his hand slowly away from the weapon. 

With a shake of her head and roll of her eyes, Vierra stepped around Vincent and shuffled quickly around the table and chairs to reach the tiny room and flip on the light. She swung open the broken mirror on the wall to reveal the quaint medicine cabinet and grabbed the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, then opened the cabinet below the sink to shuffle through old cleaning products before finding the first aid box clear in the back. When she rose back up to then turn around for the narrow closet, she startled with a gasp when she found the red head now standing directly behind her. "Your little silver haired friend send you to spy on me?"

Genesis looked back to Sephiroth before looking up at the woman again and simply nodded.

"Uuugh!" Her eyes rolled again, but for some odd reason, she found herself slightly amused. "Here, take these back and get another bowl of clean water ready." She handed the child what items she collected already before turning her attention back to the closet shelves in search for the small silver box of sewing supplies. All the while, mentally questioning the Goddess what on Gaia she ever did to deserve such a predicament.

Thankfully, the unrest was settled when she returned. The Sephiroth child remained quiet while the other two were delivering more clean bowls of water. Meanwhile, Vincent kept the towel pressed to his shoulder while propping himself up on his elbow. It gave her the opportunity to situate the pillows for his head to rest on, but to no surprise, he declined from doing so. "It'll make it easier for you to tend to both sides if I sit up." He mumbled before shifting his body to sit upright. Vierra bit down on her bottom lip to keep from protesting, even though he had a valid point. 

With his torso now bare of the clothing, she was quick to pour the disinfectant over the two bleeding holes and hoping it would be enough to fight any possible infection. The blood flow even appeared to slow now that he sat up, which finally gave her an advantage to pat and press the wounds dry before attempting the stitching. To her surprise, the quiet red head already had the sewing box opened and held it up for her to grab the needle and thread. During her vigilant concentration, she didn't notice Sephiroth slip away out of the room, but she did take notice of the scars that littered across Vincent's back.

With what knowledge she had of Shinra, and the troops now on the streets, plus his attire and guns, Vierra chose that moment to strike up some conversation. "So I presume you are a Turk?"

His muscles tensed up, but she continued her work and waited for an answer during the silence. Finally, she heard him sigh as he gave a subtle nod. "You presume correctly. My apologies for breaking into your home."

The quiet returned during her work until a careful snip of the scissors broke through the silence, and Vierra shuffled across the floor on her knees to now situate herself in front of him to stitch up the other side of his shoulder. She didn't say another word until the first stitch was secure. "Seems under the circumstances, you didn't have much of a choice," she mumbled softly while patting the wound dry before performing her needlepoint skills again. "So Shinra is hunting down children now, too? Some new recruitment program?"

Little did she realize the irony of her question, but it led Vincent to tense up again. "I don't want to involve you in our troubles," he muttered while staring ahead at the wall.

A faint chuckle escaped her lips. "A bit too late for that, don't you think?"

As she finished the final stitching, Vierra retrieved the gauze bandages from the first aid kit just as Sephiroth wandered back into the kitchen. "Looks like they're gone, Vincent. At least for now." He climbed back onto the chair only to cross his arms over the table where he rested his chin. "Maybe they'll give up." His voice was sluggish, signaling that the child was growing tired.

"Not likely, kid," Vincent mumbled as the young woman wrapped the gauze around his shoulder and under his arm repeatedly to cover both wounds before finishing off with medical tape to keep the bandage in place. As she was cleaning up the supplies, he inspected her work with approval. "You a nurse?"

Vierra scoffed with a smile while carrying one of the bowls to the sink to empty it. "No, but I helped my father a time or two to learn a few things. He wasn't a doctor, but he had a good head of the basics."

He only nodded in silence while looking over the floor, reminded of the situation he and the children placed her in. "Again, I apologize..."

"Don't worry about it." She interrupted while gathering the second bowl from the floor. She paused then, bent down while holding the bowl and now meeting his gaze head on. "But perhaps introductions are now in order, Mr. Vincent." While cradling the bowl in one arm, she held out her other hand in offering to shake his. "Vierra McDane. Nice to meet you. Now please get your gun away from that kid before I have a heart attack."

There was no need. When they both turned their heads to look at Sephiroth, he was sound asleep at the table.

Vierra slowly stood up and headed back to the sink to set down the other bowl before returning to the table and carefully retrieving the gun away from the slumbering child to then hand it to Vincent. "I may not know your situation, sir, but with one kid already asleep, you with a hole through your collar, and Shinra combing the streets, I don't see you getting very far."

He took the weapon with a subtle nod before shifting himself to stand on his own two feet again, and not really having a dispute over her observation. He made sure to move slow before testing his steadiness and thankful the room wasn't spinning anymore. Even the pain wasn't as severe as he expected it to be. He was also thankful that the young woman proved to have a sensible head on her shoulders. Not many would have remained calm, or take control of a situation such a s this where most would have gone into a panic and alerted the authorities right off the bat. 

"What I would suggest is that you and your... companions... just settle down for the night," Vierra went on while rummaging through the refrigerator. She emerged with a large pitcher of water and a bottle of orange juice to bring to the table to then turn toward the upper cabinets and retrieve some glasses. "There's room for these guys to sleep upstairs in the bigger bed. I have a spare bedroom across the hall from it where you can rest if you like..." While making her offer, she had Angeal and Genesis choose which drink they wanted and poured them each a glass. When she held up a glass for Vincent to choose, he motioned for the water while noticing how Vierra just flowed with the motions as if such oddities happened to her on a regular basis. She was calm and focused through it all, where he would expect her screaming for answers, or throwing them out to fend for themselves.

Surely having three small children in tow had something to do with her mercy, but she didn't have to tend to Vincent's injury either.

After a couple swallows of his drink, Vincent had no choice but to also swallow his pride as well. After clearing his throat, he forced his voice to work. "Although I don't wish to impose, I'm afraid you have a valid point seeing as my plan for the evening has backfired."

Now taking the blood soaked shirt and third bowl to the sink, Vierra carefully pressed the garment into the cold water for it to begin soaking. "I'll be back in a sec..." Vierra's voice broke through his thoughts as she departed from the room, leaving Vincent to take a seat in one of the chairs to rest his elbow on the table and pinch the bridge of his nose. His brain was already working on a new plan.

He hated having to rely on anyone. 

For nearly a year Vincent meticulously planned for this night. Every step was mapped out time and time again. To the very second. Every possible detour was predicted with a Plan B, C, and D. To the point that he became obsessed in forethought whether he was awake or asleep. Most were sleepless nights as he mentally dictated every detail. 

But it all went sour over a damn guard going on an unscheduled piss break.

Something so carelessly overlooked nearly cost him his life, and nearly the lives of the children. It was only by the grace of chance that they still managed to escape the labs and out of Shinra, only to wind up in Vierra's care.

Vincent [i]still[/i] hated having to rely on anyone. Yet with one look at the three small charges in his care, it was obvious they were exhausted. Especially with one already passed out on the kitchen table. With a glance at his watch, he was caught by surprise that it was nearly three in the morning. They [i]should[/i] have been a hundred miles away from Midgar by now.

According to the plan that went awry.

"Vincent?"

He didn't even open his eyes to acknowledge Angeal. He knew the boy was standing right beside him. "Hmm?"

"We staying here?"

Before he could answer, Sephiroth's groggy voice interrupted to correct the grammar. " _Arrrrrre_ we...."

Angeal scowled and immediately swatted his friend's arm even though Sephiroth still appeared to be sleeping. "You're even annoying when you sleep, you know that?"

The slumbering youth simply made a disgruntled sound before turning his head away and resting it on his arm again to fall back asleep. But Angeal didn't forget about his question when looking to Vincent again. "So are we?"

"Seems so." The Turk replied with a heavy sigh in his words while still holding his head. 

"That's good." Angeal replied with a mumble before taking another drink of juice. "I like her." His little voice echoed into the glass. "She's pretty." 

Vincent's eyes shot open as he turned to look at the child with a mix of amusement and disbelief, but Angeal was no longer looking at him. Now he seemed to find the floating pulp in the orange juice more interesting than the conversation. "Are those bugs in there?"

If Vincent wasn't so tired, he may have found it in himself to laugh. Instead he brought his other elbow to rest on the table and ran both of his hands over his face with a groan just as Vierra entered the room again. "Here you go," She announced in a soft tone so not to wake up her slumbering quest. When Vincent lowered his hands, he found fresh clothing being handed to him. "My father was only slightly bigger than you, but they'll fit none the less."

He slowly took the clothes from her hands and found himself at a loss for words as she slipped past him to place the children's now empty glasses in the sink, so Vincent quietly stood and went to the adjoining bathroom to close the door and change. He still found himself in a state of numbing disbelief to where the night led to. Since he had no control over the past events, he could only mentally comply and go through the motions to get through the rest of the night. He had to remind himself that the strain of the evening wasn't just affecting him, but three others. They needed rest even if he didn't.

But when he looked into the broken mirror, the image looking back at him left his troubling thoughts abandoned. Damn, if he didn't look like hell washed over. With a quick wash of his face, he savored the cool water against his skin and ran his wet hands through the mop of straight black hair before changing his clothing. He had to admit, he couldn't be more grateful to Vierra for choosing comfort over style. Simple grey cotton sweatpants and an oversized white T-shirt felt welcomed to his weary and sore body. Then he had to smirk when seeing she even thought to add the socks.

All the while, it was quite easy to hear the conversation in the kitchen through the bathroom door.

"How do you guys feel about a sleepover, hmm?" Vierra tried to sound as nonchalant as possible while wiping up what blood was on the floor. Angeal yawned while standing nearby and gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Dunno. What do we have to sleep over? I've only slept on a bed." 

Vierra blinked from the answer and looked to the boy with confusion. When he said nothing else, she looked to other boy who now sat cross legged under the table and bent over with his elbows on the floor and his chin resting in his palms while watching her clean. She didn't expect an answer from the little red head since he hadn't said a single word thus far. 

Turning her attention back to her chore, Vierra tried again. "You still sleep in bed."

"Then what do we sleep over?" He was quite the inquiring mind at such a late hour. "The blankets?"

She couldn't help but chuckle. "A sleepover is when you sleep elsewhere other than your home."

"Oh," Angeal muttered while climbing into the chair Vincent previously sat in. "What do you call it if you don't have a home?"

His question was innocent, but the impact caused Vierra to pause. She wasn't about to answer with a ridiculous cliché like 'home is where your heart is', so she decided to change the subject instead. "Do you have a favorite food you want for breakfast in the morning?" If she knew Angeal better, she never would have asked.

"Ehhh... As long as it's not oatmeal. I _hate_ oatmeal! I'm so sick of oatmeal. It looks like vomit. How does anyone eat something that looks like puke? And it's smelly too. Not like vomit, but it still smells bad. I don't want oatmeal."

Vierra sat back on her heels and gave up on the rest of the floor by that point and pressed the back of her hand against her lips in attempts to hold back her laughter. The child was so dramatically serious about his loathing of oatmeal that it only made his declaration more funny. When she dared to look at his impish face, his lips were pressed in a firm line to prove he meant business. So she bent over to peek down at the other child under the table. "How about you? No to oatmeal, too?"

His face contorted as if in pain as Genesis stuck out his tongue which lured another chuckle out of the young woman. 

"Did I ..... miss something?" The now familiar male voice interrupted. 

When Vierra raised her head to see Vincent standing at the bathroom doorway, she was still chuckling. "Just getting the breakfast menu in advance." She got back on her feet and threw the dirty paper towels away. "I have strict instructions against oatmeal."

Angeal proceeded to make gagging sounds which led to Vincent raising an eyebrow at him. "And what's wrong with oatmeal, young man? I happen to like oatmeal."

"Eww," The child's face pinched up at him. "You eat vomit?"

The man simply 'tsk'd' and rolled his eyes. "Alright, conversation over. Time to sleep."

"Are we sleeping on the table with Sephiroth?" Angeal questioned seriously with a tilt of his head. 

After another rub to his eyes to contain what patience he had left, Vincent took a step to retrieve said sleeping child into his arms to carry him while Vierra saved him from having to answer. "I told you there's a bed," she smiled while waving him toward the hallway. As Angeal slid out of his chair, she then bent down to motion for Genesis to crawl out and follow his chatty companion before she led the way down the hall and up the staircase.

"Just one bed?" The child continued on while wide eyes looked all around except for where he was walking. Vierra couldn't imagine he saw much with the lights being out and only another night light at the top of the stairs to guide them. "We all have to fit in it? Do I have to take those gross pills first like back at the lab? Is there a bathroom up here too? Sometimes I gotta go in the middle of the night."

The next voice came groaning from Vincent's shoulder, and grumpy as ever. "Shuduuuuup Angeeaalll..."

"Pfft, go back to sleep, Seph." The dark haired boy spat while stomping up the last remaining steps.

Once everyone was gathered into Vierra's bedroom, she pulled the rest of the blanket and sheet down for all three boys. Vincent waited until the two climbed up themselves before lying Sephiroth down and working to get his shoes off. The other boys kicked off their own before Vierra helped them out of their sweater jackets. "The bathroom is to the right of the hallway," she whispered to Angeal with a wink as he lied down to get comfortable.

She didn't realize the silent one getting unnerved until he wouldn't lie down like the others. Luminous cerulean eyes stared imploringly and his fingers fidgeted with the blanket as Genesis looked to both adults as if he wanted something. Vierra gave a questioning look to Vincent who appeared as clueless as she did, so she gave her best guess. "Do you need to use the restroom?"

He barely shook his head, but it was noticeable enough. 

"Genesis." Vincent tried with a bit more authority. "We can't read your mind. You can speak, so tell us what you want."

He pressed his lips tight and looked down at his hands, clearly struggling with himself until Angeal sat up and came to his rescue. "You know he don't talk, Vincent. He needs a light. He can't sleep when it's totally dark." And just as quickly as he sat up, Angeal fell back against the bed again with a flop.

Vierra could see Vincent was prepared to argue over something so trivial, but she cut him off by raising her finger before leaving the room. She didn't see the looks exchanged between the stern man and the embarrassed child, but when she returned with the nightlight from the hallway, Vincent was ruffling the red head's hair. "It's ok, Genesis. We'll work on talking another time." She carried on finding a socket to plug the small light in as if she didn't hear, or see the interaction, but once the light was on and gave a small glow across the floor of the room, she looked to Genesis and waited for his approval. He quietly lied down, which was the only answer she was going to get.

After pausing for another moment or two, it appeared safe to leave the trio as Vierra left the bedroom first, followed by Vincent. But once his foot reached the threshold, Angeal's voice piped up again. "Wait! Where are you going? You're not sleeping in here too?"

When Vierra turned around, she could see the child over Vincent;s shoulder, sitting up again and staring at the man's back. Vincent didn't turn around just yet. His eyes were now closed while grasping for patience again. "And where do you suppose I sleep?" His voice strained to sound calm.

Angeal somehow sensed the adult's wavering tolerance and replied with a meek tone. "I thought you were gonna sleep on the floor."

Vincent opened his eyes and took a slow, deep breath before twisting just slightly to look over his shoulder at the boy. "Do you really need me to?" He didn't ask with any hint of harshness. In fact, Vierra was amused that he sounded quite sincere.

Now fidgeting with the blanket, Vincent could see the child give a faint shrug of his shoulders. "It's just... well... never really been alone before. There were always guards... cameras... nurses..."

Vincent felt his tension go lax and sighed before turning completely around and resting his shoulder against the door frame and crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not really alone right now, are you? Genesis and Sephiroth are right next to you. But I tell you what..." He paused, unable to believe what he was about to propose, but the short silence gave Angeal a look of hope. "If you find that you still can't go to sleep after awhile, come and get me. I'll just be downstairs. I have some things to sort out for tomorrow, alright?"

Vierra watched the child bite down on his bottom lip and nod silently before lying back down without further argument. Satisfied that his temporary plan worked, Vincent turned again to give Vierra a curt nod before heading for the stairs. She followed quietly, not all that surprised that he wasn't about to go to sleep anytime soon. But neither was she. They both headed for the small kitchen again where he retrieved the large satchel from the floor and Vierra went to fetch themselves a drink.

"I wish to thank you again, for your hospitality, Miss McDane." He spoke while rummaging through files and folders. She didn't answer until she returned to the table with a liquor bottle of scotch and two clean glasses to place between them.

"You are welcome, Mr. Vincent," She replied with the same mellow tone before taking a seat and untwisting the cap to the scotch to pour them both a drink. "But I believe you have some explaining to do."

Vincent paused from his search with his gaze now flickering to the drink and her awaiting gaze, then back to the drink before returning his attention back to what he was looking for. "I fear I've involved you enough by breaking and entering."

She simply nodded while lifting the glass and taking a sip before propping up her other hand and resting her chin within her palm. "That was without asking. And I returned the favor by not calling the authorities and stitching you up. So I think it's fair payment to clue me in on what brought you and your brood to my doorstep."

Her tone was steady and serious, which still surprised him, but most of all, persistent. He spared her another glance before letting out a sigh of defeat. Either he gave in, or she would no doubt hound him all night for answers. "You're not going to like what you hear, Miss Mc..."

"Vierra. Please. The formalities were thrown out the door after you bled all over my floor." She took another sip of scotch, yet gave a quick blink of her eye for him to know she was only jesting. She saw his expression relax before catching the mirth in his eyes, even though he didn't smile. 

As he lowered himself to a chair, Vincent took his glass and a hearty swallow of the liquor before speaking and resting his knuckles below his chin and still holding the glass loosely between his fingers. He brought his eyes up to lock with hers again, never wavering so she would grasp the seriousness of what he was about to tell her if the emphasis in his voice didn't warn her enough. "Very well, [i]Vierra[/i], but like I said, you won't like what you hear."

"I don't expect to." She replied flatly with both of her hands now wrapped around her drink and waiting with rising anxiety.

After pursing his lips in thought for a moment, Vincent finally caved in with a nod and straightened himself to start pulling out items from the satchel. There was no easy way to begin such an explanation. Binders upon binders with additional folders that were quite disheveled from the bag being tossed about through the night. A clear box with what appeared to be computer disks and small digital memory sticks and another small black nylon bag tossed with the pile. Vierra didn't bother to try to mask the confusion on her face while watching Vincent search through the mound to pull out the first folder and hand it to her.

While she slowly took it and opened the cover to begin reading, Vincent went on to explain. "These aren't your normal everyday children."

"I pretty much figured that out when they had no idea what ice cream was," 

He scoffed with a surprising smirk and took another drink before continuing. "Well... on top of Shinra playing god by pumping Mako and foreign cells into their SOLDIERs, there's been a whole new Project scheme that's been kept classified. And these three kids are Shinra's guinea pig recruits." From reading and listening, Vierra felt an overwhelming dread when the large bold letters that read, ' _Jenova Project/Project S_ ' stared right back at her, with Sephiroth's general information listed below as Vincent handed her two more files. Her gaze skimmed over names and dates, taking notice that the youth was merely six of age, but scowled at the father's listed name being the same as the man performing such atrocities on his own child. When flipping through the other pair of records, she learned the names of the other two who were merely a year younger based on their birth dates, but no other names in the files were familiar to her. Upon reading what limited medical terminology she understood only made Vierra soon regret ever asking to know. 

Her nightmares couldn't have produced anything more horrific. 

Throughout the passing minutes and into the following hours, Vincent informed her of it all. Gast's discovery of Jenova. Hojo and Hollander's endless feud to prove the other wrong with their project hypothesis, and the children suffering for it. The endless injections, the endless experiments, the endless testing. For Sephiroth, it began before he even took a breath into the world. For Angeal and Genesis, before their eyes could even open from the womb. Her mind flashed of images of the three of them knowing nothing but a horrendous life, yet the shock was still too overwhelming to sink in. 

The more she was turning pages through the files, the more she learned, and the more her hands were shaking. All the while, only a single word repeated through her mind. "....Why?"

Vincent was rubbing his eyes when she finally spoke. "They weren't satisfied with injecting the Jenova cells and Mako into the SOLDIERs alone. Shinra wanted a supreme being. A Cetra reincarnate." Another sigh escaped him as he dropped his hand to reveal the disgust in his eyes. "I guess... Gast, Hojo, and Hollander figured if they started the process at birth, or earlier, such as Sephiroth's case, the DNA could be manipulated much easier and produce the desired results" 

She was slowly shaking her head from his words as she continued scanning over the records. It wasn't that she was merely sickened to death by what she learned, but more so.... furious! "How... how can anyone... do this to children!? To even _know_ about this and do nothing!?"

"Look at who's ethics your questioning, Vierra."

Her head snapped up with a blazing glare fueled from the depths of those jade green eyes. She said nothing at first, knowing he was right. Who could anyone go to with such a devious truth when Shinra owned and controlled those who were supposed to protect the oppressed and innocent? She knew this since her youth. 

She slapped the latest folder closed with a slap, unable to read another word. "You mean to tell me... the purpose of torturing those three was for the sake of some... fairy tale theory!?"

"Cetra's _were_ real, Vierra. I once overheard Hojo speak of a last living one. Said to be Professor Gast's daughter. But my sights were set on getting the boys out, not chase a ghost story that wasn't even there. So I'm unsure if the girl is even still alive or not." He looked down at what scotch was left in his glass. "As for the sake of some theory, if Shinra could actually _produce_ a Cetra, they believe it would give them the means to obtain more Mako, thus more control over the entire Planet."

Vierra was still shaking her head and scowling at the folder. She was still struggling with processing all she had learned and wasn't sure if she could handle anymore. But when her thoughts drifted back to the events of the evening, how each of the boys behaved and handled themselves, an unexpected laugh choked tightly through her throat and she felt the sharp sting of rising tears in the back of her eyes. Even with her hand splayed over her lips, she still whispered through her fingers with her gaze fixated toward the hallway as if one of the children would appear at any moment. "You would never know by looking at them... listening to them..."

She didn't need to say more. Vincent knew exactly what she was thinking having thought the very same since he came to know each of the boys for himself. He gulped another swallow from the fourth glass of scotch and nodded slowly. "They're remarkably resilient, yes. Although each one carries his own scars, they're stronger than most men I know with what all they've endured."

Now it was Vierra's turn to rub her hands repeatedly over her face and eyes before dragging her fingers through the long auburn locks of unkept hair. Her gaze happened to glance at the clock on the wall to take a second look when she saw the hands pointed at 5:15 in the morning. "Oh Goddess..." she groaned. "You must be exhausted, Vincent." 

He simply shrugged and took another casual drink. "I don't need the amount of sleep normal people do."

Her eyebrows arched at him. She was ready to pass out at any given second. "Oh?" She humored him through her fatigue. "What are you, some sort of vampire? Or lemme guess. Turks had their own _special juice_ they were injected with along side SOLDIER?"

Those ominous eyes slid over to meet hers while the rim of his glass was still at his lips. Why he smirked, even he didn't know. Still, Vincent set his glass down gently upon the table and without a word, began removing the gauze Vierra had wrapped just hours earlier. Since she handled the truth about the Projects better than expected, Vincent decided to take the chance and reveal yet another Shinra secret that even the organization wasn't aware of yet. 

Vierra's brows slowly frowned with confusion while watching him until the bullet wound was finally revealed. To her disbelief, the skin had already sealed on its own to a mere scar as he reached up and plucked out the stitches as if they were mere specks of dirt. When Vincent finally dared to look back at the woman, bracing himself for the worst reaction, he was left amused when Vierra simply grabbed the scotch and guzzled the remaining contents directly from the bottle.


	3. Chapter 3

She took the latest confession better than Vincent expected.

Vierra took it better than _she_ even expected. 

Or perhaps her brain had ingested so much unfathomable information, it went into shock and shut down her emotions in order to protect the threads of her sanity from being severed. 

None the less, she now learned that Vincent was a product of altered genetics as well, only a bit more complex than that if you would call simulating an unknown entity in one's being as part of the genetic process. Whether it was because Vincent's case was a bit more extreme, or from the amount of scotch she consumed, Vierra found herself asking more questions than she did when discussing the children. Or maybe it wasn't as grueling to talk about when an adult was the topic of such matters, rather than about children being used as test subjects. 

To Vincent's surprise, she appeared more intrigued, rather than appalled like he originally expected, and he only gave her the gist of his case since it would take additional hours if he had gone into all the details. That, and he didn't want Vierra to become anymore overwhelmed than she already was with what all she had learned. 

Hopefully her current state of calm wasn't a facade to an upcoming mental breakdown. 

"Maybe you should get some rest," He suggested before sitting back in his chair to stretch the stiff muscles in his back. 

Vierra gave him a slow blink. Her body agreed with him, but her mind wasn't about to allow her sleep any time soon. She dismissed his concern to ask one of her own. "What are you going to do now, Vincent? It's going to be rather difficult to maneuver through the streets unseen with three kids in broad daylight."

Now straining his neck back to work out the kinks, Vincent pursed his lips in thought while staring at the ceiling. "I know, but I need to at least make a scout run. See if there's any possible routes Shinra didn't think to post their hawks."

"You know as well as I do they'll have every square inch covered," Vierra sighed while slowly rising from her chair to stand.

He expected she was about to retire for a nap at least, but instead, the young woman went for the cabinets again, this time to retrieve a large can of coffee grounds. "The streets aren't the only way out of Midgar." Vincent flatly stated as he began to put all the records and files back in order. 

Vierra spared a glance at him over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "The sewers?"

"That's one possibility."

She inwardly cringed but said nothing more and began brewing the pot of coffee before turning back to her guest and rubbing her temples. Having been so consumed for the past several hours by the night's events and everything Vincent had told her, Vierra didn't notice how bad her head was throbbing until now since she previously shrugged it off as fatigue. "Seeing as I'm too wired in the brain to get any sleep at the moment, I'm taking a shower. Coffee will be ready in a few minutes, so help yourself."

As she shuffled toward the hallway, Vincent's low voice caught her before she left the room. "Vierra... " She turned to face him with weary eyes, but Vincent still kept his back to her. "Thank you again. Now that you know the truth of it, I hope you know how grateful I truly I am."

She still managed a smirk, even though he didn't see it. "Get me some ice cream too, and we'll call it even."

He smiled then, even if it wasn't seen.

She left him to his thoughts and planning while trying to shut out her own as she took to the stairs. Stars, did her legs feel like lead! The promise of a hot shower ahead was the only thing motivating Vierra now, but she couldn't help but peek into her room for just a moment to check on her three younger guests. Thankfully, they slept soundly, but what struck her attention was _how_ they were sleeping. Sephiroth lied on his back, yet had every limb spread out as if trying to claim the bed for his own. Angeal was face down, arms out as if flying, and his rump aimed at the ceiling. Meanwhile, Genesis must've given up for room at some point because he was now curled up at the very end of the bed.

After shaking her head at the sight, she made way for the bathroom. It was then she noticed her sleeping attire of faded flower pajama pants and tattered grey shirt had acquired blood stains from tending Vincent's wound and cleaning up the mess. With a disheartened sigh, she tossed them in the hamper to deal with later. Unfortunately, the shower did little to clear her mind as it did with the aches throughout her body. When finished, she snatched the thick, blue cotton robe hanging on the back of the door and wrapped it tightly around her before quietly slipping out of the bathroom. 

Her steps paused at the top of the stairs. She could see the faint glow of light from the kitchen streaming down the hallway and even contemplated on returning downstairs, but her exhaustion was so overwhelming that she headed for the spare bedroom instead. Vierra highly suspected the man below had no intentions of sleeping since he claimed he didn't need it, and he had his own planning to do for in the morning. She would just take a nap, she thought, when climbing into the single bed. 

Just a few hours would do. 

It was the last thought she blissfully had before her head fell into the pillow.

 

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Cold eyes stared down at the bowl of peaches before Sephiroth lifted his gaze to give Angeal an annoying snarl of his lips while his friend devoured his own bowl of fruit. "Must you be so loud when you eat?" His tone was bathed with disgust.

Vincent only shook his head in silence while preparing a third bowl for Genesis, who hadn't come downstairs yet. 

Angeal paused in mid-chew to scowl back at the insult with both of his cheeks bulging. "Mush yew be sho gumpy?" 

The silver haired child looked appalled when a spittle of juice dripped down Angeal's chin as he spoke with a full mouth, causing Sephiroth slowly shoved his own untouched bowl away with a grumble. "I'm not hungry anymore."

Vincent wasn't having it and shoved the bowl back in front of Sephiroth with a single order. "Eat." The stare off between them was short lived. Sephiroth sensed he wasn't going to win this battle and reluctantly picked up his fork to oblige the adult. 

For now.

Meanwhile, things were far more quiet upstairs. Morning sunlight streamed through the wide cracks of the window shutters, giving a soft glow to the room. It was still dim enough to comfortably sleep through, but timing brought a single beam to bask against Vierra's face, causing her to wake with such a start that her body shot up in a state of panic. She was supposed to be up! For what!? Something important! What did she forget? Suddenly, flashbacks from the previous night slammed through the groggy haze of her brain, causing her to flinch and clench her eyes closed again with a groan.

Everything came back in a painful rush. Discovering her intruders, stitching up a bullet wound, processing a truth her sanity had yet to digest. For now, Vierra concentrated on slowing her breath and racing heart beat. She _hated_ when she woke up in such a state! It happened often after her parents death, but she presumed it was from nightmares she simply couldn't remember after waking up in such a fright. 

Finally, she pried her eyes open again and blinked a few times for her vision to clear. It wasn't until she turned and threw the blankets aside to get out of bed that Vierra found she wasn't alone. She froze when seeing the child just sitting on the floor with his legs crossed and simply staring at her while hugging a pillow. If she ever thought any child was odd, it was this one. Or perhaps it was the haunting glow of those mako eyes. 

"Morning..." She mumbled, but as expected, the red head said nothing back. He simply tilted his head before shifting his legs to stand up. 

After a sniff to clear her nose, she too rose up on her feet to then watch Genesis head for the doorway and pause again to turn around and wait for her in his usual silence. Did her morning really have to start off this strange? With a sigh, Vierra followed, but when he reached the stairs and stopped, she passed him to make her way to the bathroom. "You go on ahead. I'll be down in a minute."

Her words were ignored. After a few minutes, she finished with her restroom trip and opened the door only to find Genesis simply sitting at the top step waiting for her. He no longer held the pillow, but stood up and waited for her again. Too tired to question his actions, Vierra rolled her eyes and took to the stairs, all the while keeping to the child's one step at a time pace as they descended together. She could hear the voices coming from the kitchen, warning her that the other two were awake before reaching the doorway to see Vincent pouring juice into multiple glasses.

He acknowledged her with a nod and an apology that sounded more diplomatic, rather than sincere.. "Sorry for raiding your food, but they gave me no choice."

Her left eyebrow raised up when glancing at the other two at the table. Mainly at Sephiroth. "Lemme guess. That one held you at gun point?"

She was rewarded to see Vincent's lips press tight and look away to hide the unexpected mirth that caught him off guard, while Sephiroth made no effort to hide his scowl at her. Then she tilted her head toward the third child following her while shuffling her way into the room. "You're missing one," she mumbled while making a bee line for the coffee.

Vincent quietly motioned for Genesis to sit in the third chair while retrieving his breakfast and setting it in front of him. At least there would be no disputes from this particular child if he didn't like peaches.

After pouring herself a cup of coffee, Vierra slowly turned and rested her lower back against the edge of the counter before sipping the hot brew. She took a moment to process her situation again with calm and even breaths while the children ate in silence like it was any normal morning to them. With a peering glance in Vincent's direction, she asked the obvious. "So... when are you scouting?"

"Already did," He replied as casually as if they were discussing the weather. 

She nearly choked on her coffee with her now wide awake stare locked on him. "Already?"

He simply nodded, but offered nothing else. For now, Vierra clamped her lips tight, presuming he didn't wish to discuss his findings in front of the children. 

"You gotta lot of books, lady." Angeal piped up while holding his glass of juice. "Why do you need so many books?"

Vierra was caught unawares by the question as her eyebrows shot up at the youth. Vincent intervened while putting the juice and peaches back into the refrigerator. "They um... kind of wandered to the other side of the place before I knew they were up."

"Oh," She muttered before sipping her coffee again. "This place used to be a bookstore." Her gaze watched all three reactions, and was surprised to see that even the foul moody child appear intrigued. 

"Used to be?" Angeal blinked with curiosity. "Why isn't it anymore?"

She inhaled slowly before answering with a softer tone. "Well, it used to be my parents shop, but they passed away. I haven't decided whether to re-open it or not."

The news quieted Angeal, but only long enough to look down at his glass and ponder for a moment. "I think you should." And just as quickly, his head shot up with eyes full of eagerness. "Can we go read them?"

And without missing a beat, Sephiroth spoke up over the rim of his glass with an intense gaze watching her. "How'd they die?"

Well wasn't he the ever delightful child.

"Sephiroth!" Vincent hissed with a scornful crease over his brow. As expected, Sephiroth wasn't at all phased by the adult's intervention, merely giving a shrug of his shoulders and drinking his juice. 

"Sorry," The Turk muttered while raking his fingers through his hair in obvious frustration. "We'll be out of your hair as soon as nightfall."

With a soft sigh, Vierra shook her head. "No, it's fine. So does this mean you have a plan?"

Although his eyes still unnerved her, she found herself mesmerized by them as he spared her a brief glance. "Almost."

Soon after, the trio of youths bounded for the bookstore end of the building while Vierra and Vincent followed. For her own sense of security, she wanted to be sure the shutters were still closed and latched to keep any prying passer-bys from seeing inside before turning on the lights. Vincent just wanted to be sure Angeal wouldn't break anything. 

It was impressive, as it was old. The ornate woodwork cascading throughout the grand open room still needed a lot of cleaning, but the detailed craftsmanship was still remarkable to be seen. From the carved designs of the wide baseboards, to the wall to wall shelves that even reached the cedar beam ceiling. Even the black iron ladders were detailed in swirls and arches, as the the artist had no particular design in mind. "Don't climb these, they're broken." She warned the youths whose wide stares drank in the impressive sight. 

The wall of books across from the front of stairs ended three quarters of the way toward the ceiling where a balcony could be seen. "What's up there?" Angeal whispered.

"Another smaller section of books and a few tables where people can sit and read." Vierra replied fondly while following the child's gaze with her own memories of the reading nook now replaying through her mind. In her youth, it was her own secret world, away from the cruel reality of the city where she spent endless hours reading or writing her own stories. 

"How do you get up there?" Angeal's boundless hope was evident in that question.

Vincent was quick to answer with a clear warning in his tone. "I don't think so." 

Across the oak wooden floor were various oriental rugs in need of desperate scrubbing, but Vierra managed to clean the multiple round tables and chairs earlier that week. The few leather bound sofas and matching plush chairs had also been wiped off, but tattered from age and wear. She sighed at the overwhelming amount of work still needing to be done, but for the first time in a long time, she smiled. "Well, have at it. Read what you like. All I ask is that you put the books back where you got them to help keep them in order."

They were slow to proceed at first, still in awe of such a place while Vierra turned to look at Vincent standing behind her and watching their every move. "Can they read?" She whispered. She remembered their birth dates from the files and knew by standard children their ages, they would only comprehend the most simple of elementary material. 

A single eyebrow rose at her when sliding his eyes in her direction. "Oh yes. They read. As well as any adult."

He found her speechless reaction quite amusing before Vierra blinked out of her momentary stupor. "Oooooooookay. Well, that's interesting...." She turned away again and guzzled the rest of her coffee to see Angeal dragging one of the chairs across the floor to use as a ladder. When Vincent made a move to stop him, she grasped his arm to stop him. "It's fine. Really. He can't hurt a chair."

Even though the Turk relaxed, his ever watchful scowl never did. 

With the awkwardness of the situation still overwhelming, Vierra was in desperate need of a distraction, or fresh air, or _something_ to help clear her head and regain some sort of perspective over harboring a wanted fugitive and three kidnapped children. After clearing her throat, she absentmindedly pulled a lock of her tussled mane behind her ear while revealing her own plan for the morning. "There's a small market across the street, I'm going to run over and get a few things. If anything, I might find out some information about last night that might prove helpful."

Vincent's scowl now turned on her, and for a split second, she worried that he would refuse her leaving out of fear that she may betray them. But he made it clear his stern expression was merely out of curiosity. "Helpful how? I already know Shinra is out there."

It was her turn to raise the eyebrow at him. "Intel shared among those of the streets is by far more more valuable than any intel Shinra could get when down here in the slums, Mr. Vincent." 

 

**************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

The bells on the double pane glass door chimed as usual when Vierra entered the small store. Its selections of food and wares may have been sorely limited, but the convenience was priceless. Yet just as her own bookstore was aged and dreary, so was small corner grocery shop. Half of the ceiling lights no longer worked, with random broken wires dangling out of the plaster. The walls were dingy and in some spots, in disrepair. Shelves would be missing from being broke and never replaced. The floor was covered in permanent grime and missing several tiles. The windows, which ones weren't already cracked or replaced with sheets of plywood, were too dingy to even see through.

As usual, the store owner was working away stocking the shelves with the delivery of bread, but his cheerful disposition was a stark contrast to the dilapidated condition of the store.

"Morning, Mr. Aubrey." She hummed when passing by. 

The elderly man lifted his bald head to give her a beaming smile. He knew who it was by her voice alone before seeing the young woman breeze down the isle. "Mornin' Vierra. Up bright and early today! Moreen will be sad that she missed you!" 

While gazing at the rows of soup cans, Vierra adjusted her green crochet sweater to sit even on her shoulders again. Cursed thing always slid to a slant from being a size too big. "And where is your wife so early in the morning?" 

While returning to his chore, the owner carried on the casual conversation. "Oh you know Moreen," his deep voice spoke of his wife with fondness. "Old widow Tessa's sick again, so she took her some of her special tea and some medicine." 

Vierra nooded while deciding on multiple cans of soup to place in the carrying basket. "At least I know who to call whenever I get sick," she replied while venturing to the next isle, grabbing a dusty random bottle of wine from a shelf without even looking at the label.

As the man struggled to get up from his arthritic knee on the floor, his grunts of effort were followed by hearty chuckling. "Seems we had some excitement last night!" He removed his thin wired glasses to clean them off with the flannel shirt he wore. 

"Mmm-hmm." As if an army if Shinra SOLDIERS scouring the streets in the wee hours of the morning could be classified as excitement. "So I saw." However did she manage to sound so damn calm was a miracle in itself.

"Yep! Seems it ain't over either!" He announced while making his burly bulk to stand behind the register counter. 

Vierra scowled when opening one of the freezer doors to grab the ice cream. "What do you mean?"

"Heard from my nephew Conner in Sector 5. Says them SOLDIERS are doin' a clean sweep of every building for whatever it is they're looking for! I'm expecting they'll start here anytime soon." His last words fell into a helpless grumble. 

As casually as her panicked heart could muster, Vierra immediately went to the counter with her selections and forced a smile at the man who knew her since the day she was born. She caught the questionable look on his face when ringing up her selections, and while digging for the money in her jeans pocket, she rushed an explanation. "I like a good sugar rush while drunk. Soup's for the potential hangover."

It earned her a sound laugh from the old man, and when taking her bag, she bid him a swift farewell. "Tell Moreen I said hi."

Once outside, Vierra forced her steps at a casual pace while glancing up and down the pitted street when crossing. No SOLDIERs, nor anything alarming. Those who were out and about were few and far between, but it was still early in the morning. She had to force herself not to look up, fearing scouts may be on rooftops, and if she did _anything_ suspicious, it would trigger attention. At the same time, the other half of her brain scorned her for being ridiculously paranoid. 

After unlocking the door to the shop, she slipped in and immediately locked it behind her to spin around and look for Vincent, but only the boys were in the room. Just as she parted her lips to ask for him, Genesis pointed up to the balcony. Looking up, she found the Turk standing up within the high alcove section intently reading a book within his hand. 

"How come he gets to go up there and we can't?" Angeal chimed. Vincent's attention tore away from the book only to snap it shut when seeing the alarm on Vierra's face. "What is it?"

With panted breath, she dropped the bag on the floor. "We got a problem."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not good with notes, but I hope you enjoy :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Vincent's plan took an unexpected detour, at least the Goddess saved his hide with an unexpected comrade from the Slums, even if the young woman had a cynical sense of humor.  
> Although Vierra's plan to slip them out of Midgar and under Shinra's radar is unorthodox to say the least, how was Vincent to argue against his three young escapees when they were slowly siding with the stranger helping them?  
> The persuasion of ice cream was strong with this one.....

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Vincent swung over the wooden banister and leaped to the floor with as much grace and speed as a panther, but what struck Vierra in awe was that the drop was at least twelve feet! Where an average person would have easily broke an ankle, or worse, Vincent barely bent his knees upon landing and immediately started walking toward her. "What problem?"

The urgency in his voice snapped her out of her initial shock with a few blinks and a shake of her head. "SOLDIERS are coming." Her hushed voice replied before stepping around him and marching swiftly out of the shop section and into the elongated hallway that led to the kitchen. She didn't want to alarm the three boys just yet, and her mind was reeling on what to do while hearing Vincent's footsteps directly behind her to know he was right on her heels. 

"What do you know?" The authority of his tone was beginning to waver as he watched the woman dive for his satchel where he left it sit in the corner of the room to then turn and toss it at him before rushing past him into the hallway again. She was failing to hide the rising panic in her own voice. "Mr Aubrey got word that SOLDIERS are raiding every building. They're already sweeping through Sector 5." 

When Vierra reached the bookshop again to find the boys, Sephiroth was crouched down and holding the bag open to peer inside while Genesis and Angeal stood like frozen statues having overheard her announcement. She simply pointed to the staircase and gave them an urgent order. "All of you, upstairs! Get your shoes and jackets!" She was relieved neither wasted any time with questions while running to retrieve their things.

When she spun around again, she found Vincent standing in the dim hallway preparing his firearms, which only added to her already frazzled nerves. "So what's your plan?"

"To leave." He replied without looking away from his chore.

"I figured that much!" Vierra snapped with her arms thrown out with frantic impatience. "I mean what are you going to do? How are you getting them out unseen? Were you serious about those sewers!?"

After slamming a full clip into his gun with a loud slap, he spared her a glance of annoyance before holstering the weapon on his hip and filling another clip. "No way out of the city that way. Every tunnel intersection is completely barred off with metal grates, and even if they weren't chained and locked, I couldn't even get to most of them due to the immense debris piled up at every tunnel."

She blinked with utter disbelief, and as the children began to descend the stairs, they came to an abrupt halt when seeing the two adults arguing. "What was the plan _before_ all this, Vincent? Was there even a plan at all!?" Goddess, how she hated to be shouting at him, but her rising hysteria over the fate of the three watching them was at stake, let alone her own life and his.

When slamming the next clip into his second gun, Vincent threw his glare upon young woman with every ounce of force that sent her staggering back a step. "Of course there was a plan!" He snarled at her as the velocity of anger within his voice was barely contained. "Every second had a purpose, every move mapped out, every back up for back tracking! For over a year this was meticulously planned, Miss McDane! So sorry a 3rd Class rookie's unscheduled bladder break graced him with a chance sighting and sound the damn alarms!" He was never going to get over the fact of feeling like such a fool for such a pathetic mistake. His intense glare turned to the awaiting youths, but at least he tames his voice when addressing them. "Let's go."

Vincent marched for the back of the building with the intent of leaving through the door they came in the night before since it led to the safety of the alley. Vierra could only watch in disbelief as the children followed without argument. Just how would they refuse even if they wanted to? 

Her mind ran rampant and she tore off after the Turk. "Wait!!" She didn't stop until she shoved herself in front of him just as he reached the store room door. "Wait! Just....wait..." Vierra even held up her hands and quickly took some calming breaths so she wouldn't anger him again. When her gaze found the courage to meet his , she attempted a more sensible approach. "Look. You know this won't work. Just sneaking them behind buildings and garbage in broad daylight, just _hoping_ no one will see you?"

His eyes narrowed, but at least his voice mellowed a bit. "There's a truck at the corner I'll just have to take, although stealing isn't my usual forte. An abandoned warehouse a couple miles east. Or the abandoned transport station to the south. There's a few others I've scouted. We can hold up another night in hiding if need be. Longer if we must for Shinra to believe we _did_ make out of the city and let their guard down for us to slip through."

"And how do figure to _take_ the truck?" Vierra inquired with her hands slammed down against her hips and her jeweled eyes now flaming back at him.

His irritability scoffed at her as Vincent pushed past her smaller frame. "I'm no fool, Vierra. I know how to hot wire a car."

As the children began to follow him into the storage room, she spun around and snapped at the Turk again. "Or you could be smarter than that and just ask for the damn keys!"

As expected, he came to a complete standstill and Vierra felt some slight satisfaction at watching his spine go rigid before he slowly turned around to face her. He may have appeared calm, but his eyes spoke volumes that he didn't dare speak them aloud. Instead, he clenched his jaw which forced him to grind the question through his teeth. "Very well. May I have the keys?"

Her arms slowly crossed to prove her stubbornness was still going to take a stand against him. "Only if we come up with a better plan."

" _We?_ "

It was her turn to scoff and roll her eyes. "I'm no fool either, Vincent. I actually _do_ have a brain, even if I'm not a Turk." She spun around to leave him decide whether to remain in the storeroom or not, while ushering the confused boys to follow her. "Common," She muttered. "I may have an idea."

Angeal seemed eager to tag along without thought, while Genesis whipped his head back and forth to each adult a few times before shuffling his feet in Vierra's direction. Sephiroth remained for a moment with his lips twisted in thought while staring at the ground. Finally, with a determined sigh, he met Vincent's gaze while raising his thumb to point in Vierra's direction. "She bought ice cream. I'm following her."

By the time Vincent admitted defeat and followed, Vierra and the children were already upstairs. As he followed the voices, he found himself in the spare bedroom where Vierra had slept where yet another door was left wide open. Had it been closed, he would've assumed it was to a closet, but now peering around the door frame, he saw another set of stairs that led up into an attic. His curiosity was beginning to outweigh his temper, and after a few cautious steps, he was suddenly attacked by a pile of clothes and stuffed toys.

"What else we throwin' down there, Vierra?" Angeal's voice rang with excitement.

With a growl, Vincent attempted to climb the stairs again only to be struck by a pile of old folded bed sheets and blankets, followed by dust filled pillows to then hear the woman's voice plan the next assault. "See that box there? Throw that stuff."

Just as Vincent threw off the attic debris with a vengeance, he looked up and saw Sephiroth push the appointed box to the top of the stairs to let it hurl down. "Don't you dare!!" The Turk shouted at the youth while still trying to get his feet free from the mounting pile around him. He was rewarded with the child's usual look of annoyance, but at least Sephiroth obeyed. 

Now that he finally reached the attic unscathed, Vincent witnessed Vierra rushing about the dust filled air in a flurry, going through boxes and storage chests, ducking the roof beams wherever she went. Whatever she found to be thrown down the stairs, the boys were happy to oblige. "May I ask just _what_ you are doing?" He asked in a state of disbelief. 

"What's it look like I'm doing," She mumbled between pants of breath while ravaging through large garbage bags. "I'm getting _stuff_!"

"For!?"

"For my idea."

"Goddess, woman, you're impossible to get an answer out of! Stuff for what idea?"

"AH-HA! I knew my mother saved these!"

Whatever delighted her was found within a deteriorating cedar chest missing one of it's corner feet. One by one, she pulled out three enormous stuffed animals that were nearly as tall as she was. Without warning, she tossed the enormous chocobo at Vincent and shuffled across the attic floor with the other two animals tucked within her arms. "Ok, let's go! Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Where Vincent looked completely appalled, the boys looked ever curious and followed. It took some kicking to clear the bottom of the stairs, but once in the bedroom, Vierra set the large teddy bear and pony on the floor and dashed back out of the room. "Stay put! I'll be right back!"

For some reason, Vincent felt an overwhelming sense of dread wash over him even though he had no idea what sort of plan was running amok in that woman's mind. Meanwhile, Angeal jumped at the chance to go through what toys were thrown down the stairs while Genesis was poking at the flopped over stuffed pony as if it might bite him. Sephiroth remained quiet and kept to himself while scowling at the mess all around them, then looked up at Vincent as if he had an answer. The Turk just sighed and raked his fingers through his hair while giving one of the blankets a shove with his foot. "No idea, kiddo. No idea."

Her running steps could be heard coming up the stairs before Vierra rushed back into the room with a larger pair of scissors in her hand, her sewing kit, brown grocery bags, and a box of plastic garbage bags. After setting everything down, she snatched the oversized teddy bear and went to work while giving orders to the others. "Ok, put stuff into all the bags. Lighter stuff in the brown bags, then stuff the garbage bags. We'll get more to throw in the truck later if we think we need it."

No one moved while watching her carefully cut the stuffed bear open from the belly to the neck before pulling the stuffing out and throwing it aside. She also snipped holes in the snout and when the bear was nearly empty of it's cotton organs, Vierra dove for the pony next. She didn't see Vincent's eyes slowly narrow at her back, but his voice was thick with ridicule. "You are _not_ doing what I _think_ you're doing."

"What! What is she doing?" Angeal's attention perked up from trying on random hats. Unfortunately, her mother's wide rimmed garden hat was far too big for his small head. 

Vierra's head whipped around with a blazing green stare that was ready for an argument. "You have a better idea, Mr. Turk?" She waved a pointing finger at him and at the mess throughout the room. "Get packing. We don't know how much time we have!"

"You are not going to shove these kids with piles of garbage! You expect an escape through a garbage truck!?"

Her eyes widened even more at him. "Oh for Gaia's sake, Vincent! This is the Slums, remember? We haven't had garbage service down here for over three years! Now calm down and trust me! The boys will fit in the chocobo, the pony, and the bear. From there, we put them inside the truck with the other lighter things and load the bed of the truck with more junk! I high tail them out of Midgar and if I hit any check points, I tell them I'm heading to Junon to donate or sell my stuff! Got it? Good! Now start packing!"

After her rushed and demanding rant, she went right back to work on the pony, leaving Vincent in a silent stupor. But leave it to Sephiroth to be his usual defiant self. "I'm _not_ wearing one of those!"

With a deep inhaled breath through her nose, Vierra closed her eyes for a moment to regather her patience before slowly setting the scissors on the floor and turning herself around on her knees to now face the stubborn child. "Now listen..."

"I'm not wear..."

"Listen!" She took him by the arms with a firm grip, but he turned his face away and tried to break free. Vierra released one of his arms to gently take his chin and force him to look back at her while speaking over his struggles. "What did you see in that bag? What was in the bag, Sephiroth?"

The question worked to still his movements, but it didn't lessen his heated scowl. Instead, his lips pursed even tighter together, literally turning them white. 

So she tried again with a more encouraging tone. "What... did you see... in the bag."

His gaze darted away to flicker at the floor before looking up at her again, and she waited while watching the child inhale a deep, shuddered breath before a low mumble answered. "Ice cream."

Vierra nodded and gave him the most solemn vow. "That's right. Ice cream. And if you trust me and go along with this without any more fuss, I _promise_ you a whole gallon of every flavor of ice cream that is ever made. Deal?"

The promise seemed to pacify the youth for now as he gave her a reluctant nod before she looked to the other two and gave them the same vow. Not that Angeal needed any coercing. He was rather eager to dress up as the chocobo. 

As Vierra set off into her work again, Vincent watched her with suspicious doubt while reluctantly shoving the mess strewn about the room into the bags as she instructed. He paused frequently to peer through the shutter cracks of the window for any signs of the expected threat to arrive while muttering under his breath. "Still think this is the most absurd idea."

"Which is why it has a chance at working," the young woman replied while finishing up with the stuffed disguises. "They're not looking for a lone frumpy slum girl trying to sell her junk just to make a gil. 

"They'll search..."

"Let them." Knowing her automatic response would only ignite his argument, Vierra swung her head around to lock her eyes with Vincent's to see his own narrow at her again. With a rushed sigh, she rose up to stand and began filling garbage bags to help speed up the process while trying to keep her rising anxiety under control. "Look, Mr. Vincent, having lived in the slums all my life and having to deal with Corneo's cartel and all the other daily threats roaming these streets, trust me... I know how to handle intimidation on the sly. If you show any resistance, that leads to suspicion. Act like you don't give a shit, their guard goes down." She spared him a glance with sarcasm laced in her tone. "Surely they taught you that technique in Turk school."

He clenched his jaw to prevent himself from spewing a few select words at her for the sake of the younger company in the room. 

Once all the bags were thrown or carried down the stairs, they rushed into the kitchen. "I'm going to bring the truck into the alley so it'll be easier to load up," Vierra hastily explained while rummaging through her tattered purse for the keys. "If you would, go into the storeroom and grab whatever you can find to pile into the bed of the truck to make it look more legit for a junk run." She couldn't help the sarcastic cynicism when looking to Vincent. "You _do_ remember where the storeroom is, right?"

While she left to retrieve the vehicle, the Turk cleared a better pathway through the debris of the storeroom to open the back door, allowing the room to be flooded with light as all the dust swirled through the air from being disturbed. It was clear at first sight that the room and its contents had been virtually abandoned for years, but the ridiculous amount of contents within would serve a greater purpose now. Since Vincent remembered that Vierra mentioned her parents death, he chose to wait for her before grabbing anything to be thrown out. 

He couldn't help but cringe when hearing the sputtering motor of the vehicle inch closer to the doorway, as if the vehicle were begging to die, but Vincent grew more worried when it was turned off in fear that it may never start again. Before he could voice his concern, Vierra came rushing back in to dictate was to go. To keep from possible prying eyes, she instructed the Turk to just bring the items to the door where she would just toss everything into the bed of the vehicle. Whether it was broken tables, her mother's old sewing machines, her father's rusty tool boxes, refurbishing projects that were never done, anything and everything was added to the pile. As an added touch, Vierra threw a thick tarp over it all and tied it to the side hooks of the bed liner in hopes to keep any attention to a potential search concentrated on the junk pile, rather than what would be hidden inside.

Once back inside the kitchen, she helped the boys into their disguises when Sephiroth popped the question. "What about Vincent?"

Luckily, the Turk answered, saving Vierra from having to explain what the two adults understood without having to discuss it. "No room for all of us, kid." He replied flatly when bringing the satchel to the table. "I'll be tagging along in my own way."

After retrieving her father's old bomber jacket from the hallway closet, Vierra slipped it on and donned a ball-cap on her head to complete the look. While pulling her hair through the hat loop, she began ushering the boys to the back door, and gathering all the bags they had packed. 

"Wait," Vincent murmured as he grasped her arm to get her full attention. When those jade green orbs turned to meet his, he was taken back for just a moment by her remarkable fierceness. It gave him more confidence to hand over the valuable bag. "Just _in case_ something should happen.... we get separated.... everything you need is in here. Safe house locations, money stashes, storage units with transportation..."

"Whoa, whoa, Vincent!" Vierra instantly protested even though he insisted to shove the satchel in her arms. "If we get separated, how in the hell do we find you? Or you us?"

"Start at the first safe house.... don't worry, I know how to follow a trail, Miss McDane." He grabbed the black jacket of his suit from the chair it was draped over and slipped it on even though it was still slightly damp from being washed. At least the bullet hole in the front and back wasn't _too_ obvious. 

When looking at his unsuspected partner in crime again, he offered Vierra a smirk to calm her concerns. "They at least taught us that in Turk school."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took longer than expected. Stomach flu got in the way last week :(
> 
> Hope you enjoy :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first posted fanfic on a writing site, so I'm unsure if I used the tags correctly. :)


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